About Will Leitch

By Tim Curtis and Brian Marron

Will Leitch grew up in Mattoon, Illinois, where he was born on October 10, 1975 and attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Leitch covered the Fighting Illini as a writer at the Daily Illini, the University of Illinois’ student newspaper. But he didn’t join the Daily Illini to cover sports. Leitch wanted to write for the Illini in the capacity his idol, Roger Ebert, had before him.

Where Ebert helped pioneer movie criticism, Leitch has been at the forefront of the new media revolution in sports. In 2005, Leitch created Deadspin, the irreverent and wildly popular sports blog that lead the wave of sports blog popularity early in the mid-2000s.

Leitch covered the Fighting Illini as a writer at the Daily Illini, the University of Illinois’ student newspaper. But he didn’t join the Daily Illini to cover sports. Leitch wanted to write for the Illini in the capacity his idol, Roger Ebert, had before him.

Where Ebert helped pioneer movie criticism, Leitch has been at the forefront of the new media revolution in sports. In 2005, Leitch created Deadspin, the irreverent and wildly popular sports blog that lead the wave of sports blog popularity early in the mid-2000s.

After three years of running Deadspin, Leitch left the site to write for New York Magazine, where he is still a contributing editor. He still writes movie reviews for Deadspin, along with Tim Grierson.

In addition to New York Magazine and Deadspin, Leitch is a senior writer at Sports on Earth, where he also hosts The Will Leitch Experience Podcast. This year, Leitch has also started writing about politics for Bloomberg Politics. Leitch has also written for The New York Times, GQ, Esquire, The Atlantic, Bloomberg Businessweek, Parade, Glamour, Fast Company and The Nation.